Vacation Bible School No. 2 at Ocosito

On the afternoon of the first Andres and I were dropped of at the village of Ocosito (not far from Reu) where we would be till Thursday for Vacation Bible School. The rest of the troups from church arrived a few hours after us.

Graham and Betty have had a lot to do with a church there and this was the second Vacation Bible School that they have held there. Here our quaters were a lot more basic than where we had been. I shared a blow up mattress that was half deflated when we woke up in the morning. The toilet was in a outhouse alongside a shower that consisted of a trough of water that you scooped out with a bucket. There was a few hammocks round there which I loved laying in.

Washing dishes in a Pela

The Vacation Bible School was held in the afternoons from 2.30 till 5pm. There may have been around 70 kids (just a guess). They all met as one group at first in the church for songs then split off into age groups to look at a Bible story. I was "helping" Andres with the teenagers. I say "helping" cos I didn't really do anything. I still can't speak Spanish, yip its still a problem. They then all re-gather to play games on the field. The leaders were all so great with kids. It was fun to see them run the games. It was exciting to hear that on the last day that over 20 kids accepted the Lord as their saviour. Programmes like these can change peoples lives. One thing that I could do was pray for the programme and the kids, so I was excited when I heard that news!

Kids playing games on the field

I think one of the worst things about not knowing the language is when you are hanging out with a group and they all crack up laughing at a joke and you don't know what they are laughing at. And then they question if you are sad, why because I am not smiling constantly? Haha I was even questioned if I like hanging out with people (in a conversations about hobbies) as sometimes I just chilled by myself. So the lack of spanish is still a problem (though I constantly find out more people understand english, not good for my attempts at spanish).

I really enjoyed my time in Ocositi. It was different and I like different. It enjoyed the different experience that was very opposite to life in the city. Had a lot of traditional food which was yum too! Came back to the city yesterday afternoon and its also good to be back here and have a hot shower and the comforts of 'home'.

Rubber trees!

Pineapple plants!

Heading to the field with the kids

The leaders!